yesterday at the white house there were vague references to conversations about the the fiscal cliff with congress iion republicans. i can confirm this morning through my sources here at the white house and on capitol hill that there were no substantive conversations or negotiations yesterday at all. no formal e-mails, to conversations, nothing. house speaker boehner's countdown led to the lighting of the capitol hill christmas tree last night. >> three, two, one. >> reporter: but washington is counting down this month to the dark unknown of the fiscal cliff. >> thanks for having me. >> reporter: on his first view sbr interview on the fiscal cliff, he rejected john boehner's proposal. >> unfortunately the speaker's proposal is out of balance. >> reporter: raising taxes on households earning more than $250,000. >> we'll have to see the rates on the top 2% go up. we're not going to be able to get a deal without it. >> reporter: republicans want smaller tax increases overall and no movement on higher income tax rates. they want to cut unnamed tax bre breaks and deductions, which they sa